Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: accomplished
  • Music: Chris Conway, "Alien Jellyfish Song."

Draft stats -- ASHES OF HONOR.

Words: 113,490.
Pages: 380.
Chapters: 26.

Reason for stopping: draft two is finished.
Music: a lot of fan mixes, actually.
The cats: Lilly, in my tank top drawer; Alice, on the orange cat tree; Thomas, occupying half the bed.

And there we are; draft two is finished, roughly a month after draft one was put solidly to bed. All the edits have been processed, many words have been trimmed, many logic puzzles have been solved, and many more surely remain. The trimmed-down, slimmed-down manuscript is off to The Agent, who will savage it with sharp, sharp teeth and cruel, cruel claws, and it will be a better book as a consequence.

Next up, The Chimes at Midnight, which stands a good chance of losing the "The" before it ever sees print. But we shall see, won't we?
Tags: ashes of honor, book status, busy busy busy, editing, personal superhero, toby daye, writing
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  • 16 comments

starmalachite

November 24 2011, 05:04:50 UTC 5 years ago

I understand the reasons for eliminating the initial word, but I prefer the rhythmic flow of The Chimes at Midnight.

seanan_mcguire

November 24 2011, 06:05:54 UTC 5 years ago

As do I, but I no longer have faith in four word titles staying that way.

pbristow

November 24 2011, 11:07:56 UTC 5 years ago

You could try a bluff: Call the manuscript "The The Chimes At Midnight". When the editor calls to say "this title has too many words in it", you can um and ah for a bit before saying "OK, take out the *second* 'The'. Not the first one!"

serge_lj

November 24 2011, 13:47:55 UTC 5 years ago

I *like* that!